Syllabus

• Course topics
• Student learning goals
• Expectations
• How grades are determined
• Exams
• Homework
• Contacting the professor
• Accomodations for disabilities
• Exceptions

Student learning goals.  Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Evaluate proper and improper integrals using standard algebraic and numerical techniques.
• Apply techniques of integration to problems such as determining arc length, volume of revolution, and center of mass.
• Use standard tests to determine convergence or divergence of a sequence or series, represent functions as power series, and approximate functions with polynomials.
• Express equations of curves in polar and parametric form, and find the arc length of and area enclosed by a curve.

My expectations of students.  As a student in this course, you are expected to

• come to class each day. Be seated and ready to begin at class start time.
• turn off and put away cell phones.
• use electronic devices only to enhance learning. Ipods, smart phones, tablets, or laptops can be valuable for accessing the textbook or viewing an online homework problem, but undisciplined use is quite distracting to you and to your classmates.
• come equipped for class, bringing your textbook (at least have access to it), computing device (likely a graphing calculator), pencil and paper.
• read assigned passages, often (but not always) from the text, and preferably before the session in which the material is to be discussed. Remind yourself that reading mathematics is not like reading a novel. You should read endeavoring to understand every sentence in its given sequence.
• submit your work by due dates/times. WebAssign assignments have clearly-marked due times—if ever WebAssign indicates a different date than the one on the course calendar, contact me to alert me to that fact. But know that the WebAssign time is the one in effect; answers will not be accepted after it is reached.
• participate fully in classroom activities.
• spend some of your discretionary time on class material 6 days each week. Binge studying, with a day or more off between “episodes” leads not only to ill-preparedness for the next day's material, but also an inability to ask questions on recent course content you do not understand. That you should take one day in seven away from all school activities is, nevertheless, highly sanctioned.
• keep a log of your own scores and test grades. If, at any time, you want to estimate your grade, calculate a weighted average using the scores/grades you've earned so far.
• take ownership for discerning the relative importance of various concepts. This is part of what it means to become a good learner. Your professor will indicate sections of material/chapters to be covered on tests, but not how to apportion study time between topics appearing in those sections.
• check your (Calvin) email regularly, at least once in the evening each day.

Grade Calculations.  Your grade will be determined as a weighted average with the following weights

Exams.  There will be 3 exams given during the term. The dates are Oct. 3, Nov. 7, and Dec. 9. It is expected that you take each exam in class on these dates. Exams may not be taken early. If extreme extenuating circumstances arise, contact me as soon as possible, and we will discuss options for taking the test apart from the rest of the class. (Cheap airfares, early departures for vacations, and the like, are not considered valid excuses.) The final exam is cumulative, and will take place on Friday, Dec. 13, at 6:30 pm. Be sure to arrange your schedule so as to be available. Calculators are not allowed on exams. Your work on an exam is to be done entirely by you, in real-time without unauthorized prior knowledge of exam content, and without the use of unauthorized notes or collaboration (voluntary or involuntary). Violations of this policy (cheating!) will result in a score of zero on the exam in the first instance, and a failing grade in the course for a repeat offender.

Homework.  On six days each week, set aside some time for doing mathematics. Formally, your progress in understanding course content is monitored using WebAssign, an online homework system. Links to assignments are found on the class calendar. You should monitor this calendar closely, as it changes regularly, keep on top of these formal assignments, and do your work on time.

Informally, your homework includes all the exercises in relevant sections of our textbook. You are in a course which is substantially the same at institutions across the country. While many things vary (text used, instructor, exercises assigned, etc.), you should strive, in so far as you are capable, to be conversant in everything another 2nd-semester Calculus student might know. This will be achieved only if you take the required content as minimal, rather than the sum total of what you should know.

Contacting me.   My office is NH 281. If you are having trouble in the course — if you do not understand something important or have some special circumstance that impedes your performance — see me about it right away! Do not put things off. The hours I am intentionally in my office for meeting with students are posted on the class webpage, as they are subject to change during the semester. If we cannot connect at one of these times, feel free to talk with me about an appointed time to meet, or swing by my office and see if I am available to help.

I may be reached by phone at x66856, but a better way to reach me for a non-technical question is by email. If you require my approval for something, do not consider having left a message for me as equivalent to having obtained that approval.

Accommodations.   Reasonable academic accomodations will be made for individuals with documented disabilities. Any student who this concerns should notify one of the coordinators for services for students with disabilities in the Center for Student Success, Spoelhof College Center 360. That student should also meet with me during the first two weeks of the semester to discuss academic accomodations.

Exceptions.   I reserve the right to make changes or exceptions to course policies — including those described in this document — either for the entire class or for specific individuals. The ultimate goal in this course is learning, and formal requirements should not unnecessarily stand in the way of that. Thus, if you think that any of the conditions of the course are interfering with learning, please speak with me about this, and we will see what can be done.